Solar Powered and Wireless Weather Stations

I was looking for indoor/outdoor solar powered thermometers last night and noticed that John Well’s at the field lab uses a weather station from Oregon Scientific. They also sell a lot of different options for clocks, radios, and thermometers. I’ve seen these in stores before and it seems to be a good brand.

Oregon Scientific

How to build a rainwater collection barrel

Posted June 27th, 2009 by Michael Janzen and filed in Reuse Recycle, Self-Sufficient, water

I’ve been researching different ways of collecting rainwater for garden and home use. I ran across this article on a simple down-spout fed rain barrel on Crafting a Green World.

DIY Gardening: Build a Rain Barrel

Ultralight Backpacking Equipment

Great site for ultralight backpacking equipment. I’m not an ultralight backpacker but I look to these people for great simple living ideas like tiny alcohol stoves made from beer cans.

Composting Toilet that generates Methane

Posted June 27th, 2009 by Michael Janzen and filed in Reuse Recycle, Sustainable, Waste

This is not the first time I’ve seen someone turn human waste, yes poop, into methane but this is the first commercially viable solution. I don’t think any composting toilets on the market do what this composting toilet does.

The Gardiner CH4 and EXCREXTRA

DIY Solar Website

Posted June 27th, 2009 by Michael Janzen and filed in Energy, Self-Sufficient, Solar, Sustainable, water

I just ran across this website from a solar still article (water purification)  on Make. Built it Solar is a do it yourself solar energy website. They offer hundreds of articles on renewable energy projects you can do at home to save money and generate your own energy.

Built it Solar

Natures Head Composting Toilet

Posted June 20th, 2009 by Michael Janzen and filed in Sustainable

I learned of this through the small house society Yahoo group. It looks like a reasonably priced composting toilet. It’s not for everyone though. It has a liquid separation tank for pee and I can see a lot of people being a little grossed out having to deal with a jug of pee. Guys would need to sit to pee too. See Natures Head for more information.

How to extract oil from olives the old fashion way

Posted June 14th, 2009 by Michael Janzen and filed in Food, Self-Sufficient

It seems some things havn’t changed much in a few thousand years. This is a link to a recreation of the oldest known olive oil press which ironically resembles modern equiptment. It makes me think I should be sure to plant some olive trees on my future sustsinable homestead and learn to make olive oil in the mean time.

Vast Paver – A paver made from 75-95% trash

Posted June 3rd, 2009 by Michael Janzen and filed in Building, Green Product, Reuse Recycle

The Vast Paver is totally cool. A paver made from 75-95% recycled scrap tire rubber and plastics. Not sure how much it costs but definitely something to consider for a future patio. Saw it on Jetson Green.

8 small wind turbine manufacturers to watch

I found this on materialicious. It’s an article that summarizes eight small wind turbine manufacturers. These are the kind of wind turbines you might use to augment a photovoltaic array and power your house.